India wholesale inflation eases to 9.78%, US to 4.7%

The Story in Brief

India's wholesale inflation eased marginally to 9.78% in July from 9.87% in June, the first monthly decline under the new 2022-23 base year, the commerce ministry said on Friday. Fuel and power inflation dropped sharply to 20.05% from 27.41%, but manufactured products inflation rose to 8.29% from 7.48%, and food index inflation climbed to 6.65%. Separately, US producer price index (PPI) slowed to 4.7% year-on-year in July from 5.5% in June, and was flat month-on-month, the labour department reported. Core PPI eased to 4.2% from 4.7%.

Economists from ICRA and PL Capital warned that elevated manufactured and core WPI readings signal persistent cost pressures for Indian producers, which could eventually feed into retail prices. In the US, lower fuel costs in early July helped cool PPI, but a renewed rise in fuel prices later in the month may push inflation up again. The data comes ahead of the Federal Reserve's September meeting, where officials are weighing whether inflation is easing enough to avoid further rate increases.